OK, so here's your chance: Raise your hand if you knew last summer Arizona's Nick Johnson would become a first-team All-American, or UConn's Ryan Boatright would develop into one of the NCAA Tournament's most influential players, or Michigan's Nik Stauskas would emerge as an NBA Draft lottery pick.

Sometimes, it's hard to them coming.

One beauty of college basketball is the surprise that comes from players who surge from a supporting role to a starring role, or from players at last taking full advantage of the talents with which they have been blessed.

This group of players, a potentially Dynamic Dozen, could have a similarly enormous impact on how the 2014-15 season unfolds as Johnson, Stauskas and Boatright did a year ago.

Why him: With Aaron Gordon departing for the NBA Draft, Hollis-Jefferson has the opportunity to fill his significant vacancy in the starting lineup.

Hollis-Jefferson has the potential to be a lockdown defender and showed his talent for handling high-pressure moments by scoring in double figures in every NCAA Tournament game as the Wildcats, lacking the offensive spacing provided by forward Brandon Ashley’s shooting, struggled to generate offense.

What’s next: Hollis-Jefferson is unlikely to become a 3-point shooting threat before he leaves the Wildcats, most likely following his sophomore season. He made two of his 10 3-point attempts as a freshman.

But he is a capable free throw shooter, having made 68 percent as a freshman, and improved as the games grew in importance. In the final 11 games of last season — as the Wildcats finished off a Pac-12 regular season title, competed in the league tournament and then fell just short of the Final Four — he made 80 percent of his attempts.

Becoming a star will require that he continue driving the ball to contact and converting free throws.

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Byron Wesley, SF, Gonzaga

6-5, senior
2013-14 stats: 17.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg

Why him: Wesley earned those attractive stats last season playing for Southern Cal's hapless Trojans, who finished 2-16 in Pac-12 play. A top Division I coach once pointed out attractive numbers on horrible teams can be misleading: "Somebody's got to score the points. No one gets shut out."

This might apply to Wesley, but in what probably was the team's best moment — a road win at eventual Elite Eight entrant Dayton — his drives proved unstoppable and he scored 26 points. He does not busy himself as a deep shooter, but he can make a 3-pointer if left alone.

He was far more aggressive driving the ball last season, which led to a dramatic improvement in his production.

What's next: Wesley did not demonstrate any particular aptitude or passion for defending in the Dayton game or any other. Gonzaga has a reputation for being an offense-first program, but its defenses have been highly efficient in recent seasons.

If Wesley wants to help keep Gonzaga among the nation's powers, he'll have to find a way to contribute at that end. He is not an elite athlete, so he'll have to be willing to pay attention to detail.

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Chris Walker, PF, Florida

6-10, sophomore2013-14 stats: 1.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg

Why him: More than perhaps any player who has competed in high-level basketball in the past decade, Walker has personified the new culture of the game. His appeal is based on his size, his athleticism, his potential.

He has yet to show he can combine these assets into something wonderful; he only made two of six shots in the McDonald's All-American Game, where hardly anyone guards. He was not cleared to play until February of his freshman season and, with the team's excellence firmly established without him, only played double-figure minutes once before his freshman year expired in the national semifinals.

Walker is a phenomenal jumper for his size; Larry Nance once showed there is a value to that so long as the player has a varied game. Walker would do well to follow his example.

What’s next: Being totally honest, if Walker had come along before the NBA's age limit was in place, he'd have been drafted based strictly on his size and jumping ability and his team would have had no idea whether he could be trained to play effectively.

This is his chance to show it. Walker must find a way to defeat opponents with his height and length. The best place to start that process is by pounding the offensive boards and gradually expanding his influence from there.

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Terry Rozier, PG, Louisville

6-1, sophomore

2013-14 stats: 7.0 ppg, 1.8 apg

Why him: With Russ Smith gone after his All-American season, the Cardinals need a new point guard — and probably much more than that.

Senior Chris Jones demonstrated the ability to advance the ball but not a reliable feel for running the offense. Rozier became a dependable reserve for the Cardinals, revealing a gift for running down long rebounds and guarding his position.

Rozier has impressed teammates with his play in the offseason. Incoming freshman Quentin Snider told The Courier-Journal that Rozier "is going to be a monster."

What’s next: Rozier is a more natural point than Jones, but he has to continue to grow as a distributor. He played 10 games as a freshman in which he did not record an assist despite playing double-figure minutes. That was partly a product of Smith having the ball in his hands so often, with most of the power to pursue his own shot or initiate action for others.

Rozier did not get a lot of high-quality scoring opportunities aside from open 3-pointers; he made 37 percent of those, which is good, but only 40 percent overall from the field, which is not. The change in his function should lead to better chances and greater productivity.

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Caris LeVert, SG, Michigan

6-7, junior

2013-14 stats: 12.9 ppg, 4.3 apg

Why him: Michigan's past two stars, Trey Burke and Nik Stauskas, became Big Ten player of the year. LeVert will have stiff competition for that trophy, and it's going to be even tougher for the Wolverines to compete for the conference title given the exodus of proven big men Mitch McGary, Jordan Morgan and Jon Horford from the program.

LeVert could have as impressive a season as any recent Wolverine given the opportunity available to him and his own variety of talents. He is an excellent 3-point shooter (40.8 percent last season) and is a better ballhandler and passer from the wing than Stauskas, which is saying something. LeVert could be one of the nation’s best players.

What's next: Carrying a load like the one LeVert will be asked to handle generally requires some strength. LeVert came to Michigan with a lean frame that has resisted rapid transformation. He has excelled without muscle, as his rebounding numbers attest.

But it could be argued that he wore down toward the end as he carried a 34-minute load through the season. He averaged only 9.2 points and shot 37.7 percent over the final five games.

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Branden Dawson, SF, Michigan State

6-6, senior

2013-14 stats: 11.2 ppg, 8.3 apg

Why him: What about Dawson's junior season did not go wrong? March. And that's about it. From his comatose play against North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge to the doomed midseason film session that led to him breaking his hand in frustration, to the nine crucial games he missed as a result, it surely was not Dawson's year.

And yet, he nearly averaged a double-double, and when he at last reclaimed his interest in the game he tore through the Big Ten Tournament and rightly was named its MVP. Now he is the primary option on a team that is filled with role players sorely in need of a star to carry them. The opportunity is there.

What's next: What was most exciting about Dawson in the Big Ten Tournament was not his 15-point scoring average, but the variety of ways in which he affected the game. He showed athleticism that he largely kept hidden as a junior. He hit free throw-line jumpers. He grabbed defensive rebounds and dribbled into the break.

A guy who can average 8.3 rebounds in a lousy season — what can he do when he’s motivated and performing well? Dawson has the ability to be the preeminent Big Ten player this season, and Michigan State needs exactly that.

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Wayne Selden Jr., SG, Kansas

6-5, sophomore

2013-14 stats: 9.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg

Why him: Selden never totally grew comfortable playing on the wing opposite Andrew Wiggins — or, perhaps more to the point, as a backcourt partner to Naadir Tharpe.

Selden was not gifted with an abundance of open shots, nor did he convert a significant percentage of those that did develop for him. He is a high-level athlete, though, with exceptional power and an extraordinary work ethic. Even if his 3-point shooting does not improve substantially from last season's 33 percent, Selden should deliver more from having better opportunities to drive the ball.

What's next: The most important quality for Selden as he progresses into his sophomore year is confidence. He rarely played last season as though he had a right to take shots away from Wiggins. Perhaps he did not, but that's no longer an issue. He also seemed to allow poor long-distance shooting nights to affect the rest of his offensive game.

When he went 8-of-15 from deep in consecutive early January games against Oklahoma and Kansas State, he also went 8-of-12 in those games on 2-pointers. When he went 2-of-11 over the next two games, he tried only five two-pointers and made a couple.

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Georges Niang, F, Iowa State

6-7, junior

2013-14 stats: 16.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg

Why him: By the end of last season, Niang's versatility as a scorer had made him one of the toughest players coaches had to plan against. He followed the standard formula for an inside/outside threat: take smaller players inside, bigger players outside.

Perhaps the only opponent immune to this maneuvering was Kansas center Joel Embiid, who was quick enough and long enough to deal with Niang's perimeter skill. For everyone else, it was a nightmare.

And now, for Iowa State, it will be the foundation of the offense. All-Americans Melvin Ejim and DeAndre Kane took nearly 44 percent of the offense with them upon completing their careers. The Cyclones logically will make greater use of Niang's varied offensive talents.

What he'll need to do is become more effective at using his tricky post moves to get himself fouled. He already led the team in shots, but in free-throw attempts ranked only fourth.

What's next: Niang should look much different the next time hoops fans see him in public. He generally looked a bit pudgy as he went through his first two college seasons, although he seemed to make good use of the extra weight to hold his position in the post or on blockouts against taller, longer opponents.

Niang determined that carrying extra weight while playing 30 minutes per night was wearing him down, so it’s probably for the better that he dropped about 25 pounds during the offseason — especially since Ejim's departure means there’s a good chance he'll play even more minutes this time around.

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Nic Moore, PG, SMU

5-9, junior
2013-14 stats: 13.6 ppg, 4.9 apg

Why him: Moore was an all-conference player in his first season after transferring from Illinois State, leading the Mustangs to a 12-6 record in the American Athletic Conference and within a few inches of an NCAA Tournament bid. High school All-American Emmanuel Mudiay was supposed to arrive and carry the team over that threshold, essentially by shoving Moore out of the way and taking over at the point. That's not going to happen now. Mudiay is on his way to China, and Moore still has his job and a chance to improve on his impressive sophomore year by improving his command of the team and becoming a more aggressive playmaker.

What's next: Moore’s first year at SMU appeared flawless, so long as one does not look too closely at the details. Except that's kind of what we're here to do.

If you watched the team's most important games in the NCAA tourney hunt, Moore was not the same player that he’d been for much of the year or was in the run to the NIT finals. When a full house crammed into Moody Coliseum for the nationally televised visit from Louisville, Moore wilted with four turnovers against the Cards' pressure defense and committed a nonsense foul that forced coach Larry Brown to pull him from the game early in the second half. He played 19 minutes.

In the quarterfinal loss to Houston in the AAC tournament, he shot 0-for-9 from the floor. That can't happen in this season's big games.

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Angelo Chol, C, San Diego State

6-9, junior

2013-14 stats: none

Why him: Chol could have played a significant role at Arizona last season had he chosen to stay with the Wildcats after two seasons as a deep reserve, but he opted to move back to where he played high school ball and join a program that has been welcoming to transfers.

Chol is not an elite talent, but he is a solid two-way big man who'll defend the interior (his freshman-year block rate projects to about two per game as a full-time player) and score when singled up in the post (56.2 percent from field as frosh). The Aztecs will miss the rebounding grad transfer Josh Davis delivered during last season's Sweet 16 run. Chol will find this team's frontcourt far less crowded.

What's next: Chol never has been a full-time player at the collegiate level. The most he's played was 24 minutes as a sophomore when he grabbed eight rebounds and made half his six shots in a win over Stanford. Honestly, if he repeats that level of performance most nights for the Aztecs, they’ll be thrilled.

He does not have to be a star. He must be a presence. He has to protect the lane, draw defenders away from teammates Dwyane Polee and Winston Shepard and convert whatever easy opportunities are created for him. All of that sounds simple, but it's a harder to find that guy than it seems. Those who've seen Chol at his best know he’s capable of filling that role.

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Brice Johnson, PF, North Carolina

6-9, junior

2013-14 stats: 10.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg

Why him: There are hundreds of players in college hoops starting and playing full-time who would love to have rung up the stats Johnson did as a sophomore. He did it in less than 20 minutes per game. With James Michael McAdoo volunteering to leave a year of eligibility unspent (and a world of potential unexplored), Johnson will not have the same sort of competition for playing time. Johnson scored in double figures in his last three full games as a sophomore, all against NCAA Tournament opponents. He missed all but two minutes of the Tar Heels' NCAA elimination game because of a sprained ankle, and that affected them — but not as much as his development into a serious contributor would this season.

What’s next: Johnson is not a banger. He was listed last season at 210 pounds. But the team has great size in the middle from Kennedy Meeks. Johnson can complement Meeks' low-post strength by being active, energetic and tough. There have been players whose production did not improve with more playing time; Johnson cannot afford to be one of those. Nearly all of his production has come close to the basket — on post-ups, put-backs and the like.

It would help if there were more to Johnson's game, but nothing is more essential than him playing as aggressively through 25-30 minutes as he did in the 15-20 he’s customarily been allotted.

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Mike Tobey, C, Virginia

6-11, junior
2013-14 stats: 6.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg

Why him: On a team acclaimed for its over-achievement — and awarded a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed on that account — Tobey managed to be one player who did not fulfill his potential. He started the majority of games, but played 18 minutes on average.

Some of that would seem to be a product of UVa wanting to be as quick as possible to fuel its defense-first approach. However, part of the need to be defense-first resulted from Tobey's inability to become a more reliable offensive player.

The talent is there, however. He has the soft shooting touch of a legitimate face-up big man. He nearly was an 80 percent free-throw shooter as a freshman and with USA Basketball's U19 national team. But as his responsibility grew last season he became less proficient from the field and the line.

What's next: There is something strange about seeing "below average" in so many offensive categories on Tobey's Synergy Sports Technologies breakdown page. With his touch he should be above average across the board. Some of his problems can be traced to the need to develop greater strength and toughness. He weighed 253 last season; he could handle more weight, and certainly could use more muscle.

But Tobey also must believe he belongs, that he's a player. He's holding himself back as much as any defense.